


Parenting 101

by magicandlight



Series: The States [1]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Rewrite, baby colonies, or at least little colonies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-08
Updated: 2018-10-08
Packaged: 2019-07-28 06:01:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16235627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magicandlight/pseuds/magicandlight
Summary: Alfred is pretty much winging this. The Virginias aren't babies, but they aren't entirely self-sufficient either.They're kind of like cats. They can kind of take care of themselves, but they probably shouldn't. They try and eat things they shouldn't and sleep in weird places and break things.





	Parenting 101

**_On Adoption:_ **

The Virginias come first. 

He doesn't mean to find them, but he sees the little girl and _knows_  instinctively. 

And when her twin puts himself between Alfred's outstretched hand and the girl, Alfred smiles. 

✸✸✸✸

Alfred brings the Virginias home, and is suddenly struck with the realization that he's just adopted two children.

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Alfred is pretty much winging this. The Virginias aren't babies, but they aren't entirely self-sufficient either.

They're kind of like cats. They can kind of take care of themselves, but they probably shouldn't. They try and eat things they shouldn't and sleep in weird places and break things.

They keep startling him because they're both below eye level and he just sort of... forgets they're there. 

That's not even considering the vaguely-pastel-furred dogs (?) that came home with them. 

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He finds Delaware next, and Alfred's heart aches with the silent declaration of trust as she places her little hand in his.

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Alfred finds Maryland next, and has to hide his shock at the sight of cerulean blue eyes staring back at him. 

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The two Carolinas and Georgia had managed to find their way to each other, and by the time Alfred finds them, they're used to only relying on themselves. 

Georgia splays her arms protectively, using her smaller form as a barrier. Both boys frown at this gesture, pressing closer to her and peering over her shoulders. 

Alfred crouches down to her height. "Hello," He says, softly, calmly. "I'm America."

Georgia eyes him with distrust. "...Georgia."

He smiles at her, and even though she doesn't smile back, some of that distrust fades. 

Alfred turns his attention to the twins. "Which of you is South and which of you is North?"

The twins blink. 

The one on the left raised his hand. "North." He then points to his twin. "South." 

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Even if he hadn't felt the tug, he would have known Massachusetts.

There was no way not to- not with her golden hair and emerald eyes and milk-pale skin.

She wasn't what he had been expecting. A cross pendant dangles from a chain around her neck. She sits with her legs folded under her on the bank of a river. 

"Massachusetts." He says, and her eyes widen.

"Don't say that too loudly around here." Mass warns.

He offers a hand and pulls her to her feet.

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Alfred feels sick from the wrongness of leaving, and Mass wants to east. 

It all makes sense when they coax Maine down from a tree. 

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Pennsylvania finds him, appearing at his side in Philadelphia, pressing his hand into Alfred's and smiling up at him. 

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New York pickpockets him. 

He should be annoyed, but mostly he's amused. 

It's his own fault that she cut him. He should have realized that she wouldn't react well to being grabbed. Alfred feels terrible about it, especially when he notices she keeps glancing down at the blood on his hand with a guilty expression.

He buys her a tart and watches as she devours it and the stories of other colonies, of other children like her. He offers her a home and safety and a family and no matter how much she tries to hide it, Alfred can tell that's all she ever really wanted. 

She still surprises him when her hand grips his. 

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Connecticut is small and tiny with a mane of copper curls that spill down her back and tawny eyes, and Alfred really isn't sure what to make of her, especially when she completely ignores what Alfred's come to think of the norm for colonies and hugs him. 

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Rhode Island comes next, just a short trip across the border before Alfred goes home. 

He manages to befriend Connecticut within ten minutes of meeting her, and before they even get home, Connecticut is declaring that he's her new brother. 

How they both manage to get Sam to consider them siblings within the week is something Alfred doesn't even try to understand. 

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New Jersey comes a month after Rhode Island. 

Alfred's first thought is that he's too much like New York to not be her brother.

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New Hampshire and Vermont are the last ones he finds, and Vermont really is a shock. 

Here he'd thought that personifications were limited to Nations and Colonies, but Vermont disproves that simply by existing. 

 

**_On Sleeping Arrangements:_ **

Arthur sends money, of course, enough for Alfred to live more than comfortably if he wanted. 

Right now, Alfred's glad he has a habit of socking away whatever he doesn't use, because mattress aren't exactly the cheapest. 

He'd been letting them sleep with him, at first. But now that there were sixteen of them ( _sixteen!_ ) that wasn't exactly realistic. 

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The mattresses are stacked up in the middle of the living room, as Alfred tries to figure out where they should go.

The colonies are making a game of trying to climb up them, and Alfred winces as New Hampshire crashes to the ground. 

✶✶✶✶✶✶✶✶✶✶✶✶✶✶✶✶

"Alright." Alfred says to get their attention. 

He has it in an instant, all eyes focused on him. 

He clears his throat. "So, some of you are going to have to share rooms. Okay?"

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He didn't get bedframes because they'd be too difficult to explain. The mattresses could be stowed away in the attic but bedframes were solid wood and difficult to store away. 

He drags the mattress into the rooms, letting the colonies decide their roommates. 

Both sets of twins were together, with Georgia deciding to go with her brothers. Vermont and New Hampshire. New Jersey and New York. 

 

**_On the Brushing and Styling of Hair:_ **

Eventually, it hits him that he is responsible for six little girls and that responsibility includes making sure their hair isn't too wild. 

He figures this out after some lady in town side-eyes Virginia's tangled up hair. 

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The problem, of course, is that he doesn't know what to do with all this hair. 

Usually, when he cuts his hair when he starts having to actually brush it. 

Brushing is the easy part- just get all the knots and tangles out and try to be gentle about it. 

Styling is the hard part. He vaguely knows what a braid is (like rope, right?) but New York starts rattling off the different kinds and his head starts to hurt. 

Delaware sees his expression and carefully begins coaching him. ( _This goes under, that one goes over- no, that one-_ )

 

**_On First Languages:_ **

Sometimes they don't even notice when they switch languages.

Having Maine sobbing rapid-fire, strangely accented French at him at midnight was an experience, to say the least.

Alfred doesn't know how the languages thing works. Arthur had never really explained the extent of the abilities of personifications to him.

All he knew is that languages were easy for him. Sometimes he didn't even know how he learned them.

That didn't mean he could translate the garbled mess of Swedish and Finnish Delaware sometimes spoke, or that he understood the handful of languages New York mixed together when she got angry.

Vermont often talked to himself in French and New Jersey spoke Dutch when he got upset or overexcited. (Alfred was certain Arthur had never had to deal with two children screeching at each other in Dutch at three AM.)

Alfred tries, though. When they speak at him in another language, he tries to speak it back. When New Hampshire looks between Alfred and Vermont and says _teach me_ , Alfred digs back and tries to remember how Francis had eased him into the language. 

 

**_On the Naming of Children:_ **

East swings her feet as she sits, sipping at her tea. "How come you have a different name, but we don't?"

Alfred frowns. "What?"

Maryland chooses this moment to join the conversation. "Yeah. You have America  _and_  Alfred."

Alfred looks around at the children, who are suddenly paying attention. "Do you... want names?"

Delaware leans forward. "Yes!"

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Delaware gets a name first, Adela because it's close enough to her state name. 

Of course, the colonies find out about the concept of middle names and this is such a simple thing he can't deny them. 

He picks Maria from a section of Swedish queens in a book about European royalty, and Adela loves her name, even if it's immediately shortened to Del. 

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He gives Georgia a color name, Scarlett. Her hair isn't quite that vibrant, but her personality is, and it seems to fit. He gives her Susannah because it sounds old-fashioned and pretty. 

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He names Pennsylvania William for his founder and Benjamin because Alfred likes the name.  

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The Virginias remind him so much like Arthur- Mass looks like him but the Virginias act like him. 

So, when he names them, he gives them names that reflect that- Elizabeth Victoria and Wesley Arthur. 

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He gives Connecticut one of those almost-names, the way he had done for Delaware. Constance Annette, but it fits. She is constant, the steadiest of the colonies. 

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New York he names Brooke for Brooklyn, and Natalie because it's from Dutch roots. 

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Maryland gets Scott Henry and Scott immediately manages to bond with Elizabeth over their names from queens. 

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Foster and Levi both come from one of the books in the library, one of them Alfred's choice and the other Mass's. 

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He gives Mass a puritan name- Samantha Temperance, something old fashioned but fitting. 

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New Hampshire becomes Cameron Mason because Alfred likes the way it sounds. 

Vermont gets an almost-name and then an explorer from one of the books.  Montgomery Carter. 

(Alfred can count on his fingers the number of times he's ever called Montgomery. It takes two seconds for it to be shortened into Monty.)

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The Carolinas are christened Daniel Logan and David Lucas, and Alfred regrets giving the twins similar names almost immediately, because he keeps mixing them up and they laugh at him when he can't get the full name out. 

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Nicholas Gabriel, Alfred names New Jersey. Something almost Dutch and something English. 

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Rhode Island lets his sisters pick his name. Mass gives him Adam and Connecticut gives him Robin and honestly, Alfred doesn't even know where that came from.

 

**_On Bedtime Stories:_ **

Alfred doesn't mind the bedtime stories- it's cute when they all crowd around him to listen. 

They have a specific order as to who gets to pick the next book, and Alfred will read them pretty much whatever they pick out, which in the past has included anything from Shakespeare to an ecyclopedia of fruits and vegetables. 

 

**_On the Proper Handling of Sick Children:_ **

The colonies have weaker immune systems, so it's pretty easy for them to catch things.

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Mass gets smallpox and Alfred is  _terrified_. He basically quarantines her room, which makes the other worry and Maine starts crying. 

He hears news about it spreading across Boston and that just scares him more. 

She's delirious with fever and covered in sores for two whole weeks.

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Foster was the first one to come down with influenza. Then Scott, the Carolinas and Scarlett were sick. From there, the rest quickly got sick.

The other three southern colonies were are curled up in a miserable bundle of blankets in David's bed. Brooke was somewhere in the closet with all of her bedding and half of Nicky's because he was sweating out a fever while Brooke swore up and down she was freezing. Samantha was asleep, though that didn't stop Foster from climbing into bed to cuddle up against her. Connie and Adam were camped out in Adam's room with Connie's collection of animals. Elizabeth and Wes had to be separated since they kept fighting over blankets and whether or not the window should be open or closed. Will was taking the whole sick thing pretty well, bundling up in sweaters and reading in the library. Adela liked perching in the window seat like a cat because the sunlight made it warm. Scott was mostly better but still slept a lot more usual. 

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"Alfred, who took care of you when you were smaller and got sick?" Scarlett asks. Her fever had broken and she was looking marginally better.

Alfred brushed her sweaty hair back. "England, when he was there. Sometimes he wasn't."

"What happened when he wasn't?"

"I took care of myself."

"Oh." Scarlett smiled at him. "Don't worry, if you get sick, I'll take care of you."

Alfred blinked. "Scarlett-"

The colony was already asleep, her nose pressed into Alfred's arm.

 

**_On Becoming a Parent:_ **

The first one to call Alfred 'dad' is Scarlett.

She was possibly half asleep when she said  _it_.

"Dad, can you read a bedtime story?" She rubbed her eyes.

"Yeah, su-What did you just call me?" He hadn't heard her right. No way.

Scarlett doesn't look half asleep anymore. She looks horrified.

"Uh, nothing. Never mind. Goodnight!" Scarlett squeaked.

"No, Scarlett-  _Georgia, wait!_ "

She froze. Alfred gently turned her around to face him. "What did you call me?"

Scarlett looks up. "I called you dad."

Alfred takes a deep, gasping breath. 

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A week later finds Adam standing in his office. 

"Alfred?" Adam, fidgeting nervously. 

"Yes?"

Adam shifts. "Georgia- she gets to call you dad."

"Yes." Alfred says.

"Can I?" Adam finishes.

Alfred smiles. 

 

**_On Goodnights_ **

When Alfred said 'bedtime' usually it took about an hour more to actually get them in bed.

It also took an additional twenty minutes for him to go around tucking them all in and saying goodnights. 

✸✸✸✸

The Carolinas and Scarlett set up their room so that they each had a wall. Scarlett had the one with the window, which put her between the boys. 

Alfred tugged Scarlett's blanket up to cover her shoulders before kissing her forehead. She giggled quietly.

He brushes back Danny's hair from his face before kissing his forehead, just like he had done with his sister a minute ago.

Daniel makes a noise of protest, but doesn't try to stop him or wipe off the kiss.

America repeats the process with David, before saying goodnight.

"Goodnight, Danny, Davy, Scarlett."

"Goodnight, Dad." They chime back.

_There's that warm feeling again._

✸✸✸✸

Elizabeth's and Wesley's beds are next to each other, and sometimes they end up pushing them together.

Elizabeth is half asleep when he gets to her, brushing back her bangs and readjusting the red stuffed animal she holds so it's less likely to fall off the bed.

She mutters a sleepy  _'Night_ before closing her eyes. America smiles and scratches behind Strawberry's ears as the cat circles three times before nestling herself into the crook of Elizabeth's neck like a furry scarf. 

Wesley's next, with his own stuffed cardinal cradled against his chest. He's already asleep, breathing steady, even, and deep.

America briefly notes Lavender laying on Wes's feet as he ruffles his hair fondly and mutters goodnight.

✸✸✸✸

Scott is all messy blonde hair and blue eyes when America tucks him in, and he briefly wonders if this is what he looked like, when England had tucked him in.

"Have a goodnight, dad."

"You too, Scotty." Alfred has gotten into the habit of adding an  _ie_ or  _y_ at the end of their names. Scarlett becomes Letty, Daniel becomes Danny, David turns into Davy, Elizabeth becomes Lizzy or Ginny.

_England would say he was butchering perfectly good names-_

America derails that train of thought.

✸✸✸✸

Adela is still in her nightly process of braiding her hair back when he goes into her room.

She has one pigtail halfway down, though the other side still hangs in subtle waves.

He hesitates slightly before sitting down beside her and beginning to braid the other side.

Del hums. "Thank you."

In few moments, Adela's pale blonde hair is braided into two short pigtails, Alfred grabbing her hair ribbons off her nightstand and tying them tight.

"Goodnight, Adela."

"Godnatt, pappa." She mutters. Alfred smiles at her sleepy Swedish, and then kisses her cheek.

✸✸✸✸

Brooke and Nicky are still talking when he enters their room.

Both black-haired colonies look up when he enters. Their beds are across from each other, even though they usually get pushed together when Adrien visits.

Brooke's hair has been pulled back into a single chest length braid, contrasting against the stark white linen nightgown.

Nicky's spiky black hair is even messier due to bed head.

America shakes his head before going to Nicky's side of the room. He ruffles his hair affectionately before blowing out the candle on his nightstand. He does the same to Brooke.

He watches as both settle down under the blankets before going to the window, adjusting the curtains to let in the moonlight-neither like the dark.

"Goodnight!" He calls before leaving.

"Goodnight, Dad!" They both answer back.

Alfred shuts the door behind him. 

✸✸✸✸

Will is already asleep, limbs sprawled in every direction.

America smooths his hair back before leaving quietly.

✸✸✸✸

Connie is brushing out her nest of coppery curls when he comes to say his goodnights.

She sits her hairbrush down on the nightstand, holding her arms out for a hug.

Alfred hugs her. "Sweet dreams, Connie."

"You too, daddy."

✸✸✸✸

Monty and Cam are still awake.

They contrast so much, Monty with his dark brown hair and nerves, Cam with his light blonde hair and unwavering confidence.

Monty presses his stuffed animal to his chest. Alfred sometimes wonders what Francis would think of this small, nervous child that has his eyes. He sometimes wonders what  _Arthur_  would think.

He ruffles Cam's hair. "Night, Cam." Then he turns to Monty. He brushes his bangs out of his eyes, making a note to convince him to have it cut. "Night, Monty."

Cam says it back immediately. "Night, Dad."

Monty hesitates, and even then he says it quietly. "Bonne nuit, papa." 

✸✸✸✸

Adam is adjusting the flower crown on his teddy bear. He sits the bear on his nightstand carefully.

Alfred restrains his smile. He knows who gave Adam that flower crown. He ruffles the colony's hair before kissing his forehead. "Goodnight Adam."

"Goodnight." 

✸✸✸✸

Sam is on her knees by her bed, her cross pendant in her hand. Hands folded, eyes closed. Her lips move as she mouths the words to a prayer she knows by heart.

She looks devastatingly like Arthur.

He waits until she finished it to pick her up and put her in bed. "Sweet dreams, Sam."

"Sweet dreams, dad." 

✸✸✸✸

Foster is last, curled up in his bed around his teddy bear.

Alfred knows in a few hours when he has a nightmare, he'll go to Sam.

He ruffles Foster's hair before leaving.

 

**_On 'Hereditary' Traits_ **

Alfred was amazed by the fact that even if they weren't actually related to him or any other nation, how similar they could be to the other nations.

Sam had always looked like England, but sometimes she acted like him. She drank her tea the same way he did, she smiled the same, and she had the same way of speaking. And that anger, god, that anger. America knows she hadn't inherited  _that_  from him.

Ginny was even more similar to England. Ginny did embroidery, and sewed, she drank tea- though she put more milk and sugar in hers than Arthur did. She had been delighted by the tea pot Arthur had left behind. There was that imperial way she held herself, in the way she fought with her brother. Wes might have looked a bit like England, but he was all lazy charm and quick retorts.

Foster and Monty rarely reminded him of Francis so much. Sometimes, however, he would catch glimpses of his brother's caretaker in them. In their smiles, in Monty's blue eyes- eyes that weren't the same color as his-, in the playful lilt to Foster's voice when he talked to Sam.

He had never really spent enough time around the Netherlands to know if Brooke and Nicky were like him, but he had spent sometime around Finland. Which is how he knew that Adela was very similar to him, in appearance and mannerisms. He saw Finland in the way she tilted her head when she smiled, the way her nose scrunched up slightly when she was confused, her excitement about Christmas. He saw Sweden in the quick, steady swing of her fists when she got dragged into a fight, in the way she would glare as she defended Will.

America had only met Ireland, North, and Scotland twice but it was enough to know that there was a little bit of them in that quick, trouble-maker smile Nicky had, a little bit in the shade of the Carolinas hair, in the mischievous glint in their eyes. There was Northern Ireland's easygoing personality in Scarlett, but Ireland's temper and sharp tongue, not to mention that  _hair_.

There was Wales in Will's patience, but also Prussia in his stubbornness. His temperament was a mixture of the two, half quaker, half fighter.

Sometimes he could see himself reflected in his colonies. In the color of Brooke's eyes, the same color he saw when he looked in the mirror. In Maryland, where traces of nations other than England and America were rare. In Scarlett's smile, all sweet southern charm and hospitality. In the way Sam talked, the words she chose.

In exactly whose last name that had chosen; never Kirkland or Bonnefoy or Oxenstierna, always  _Jones_.


End file.
